Trump: US Grounding Boeing 737 Max 8, 9 After Ethiopia Crash

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says the U.S. is issuing an emergency order grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft in the wake of a crash of an Ethiopian Airliner that killed 157 people.

Many nations in the world had already barred the Boeing 737 Max 8 from its airspace, but until now, the Federal Aviation Administration had been saying that it didn’t have any data to show the jets are unsafe.

Trump said Wednesday that the FAA would be making the announcement soon to ground the planes.

He says any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and then be grounded.

Trump says pilots and airlines have been notified.

He says the safety of the American people is of “paramount concern.”

(Important additional note: 72 of these planes in US are operated by American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.)